Derailment-guard for railroad-cars.



R. J. EDWARDS.

DBEAILMENT GUARD FOR RAILROAD CABS.

APPLICATION PI-LBD JUNE 14, 19b9.

Patented; Dec. 21, 1909.

a S B N w RICHARD JAMES EDWARDS, OF GALENA, ILLINOIS.

DERAILMENT-GUARD FOR RAILROAD-CARS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 19th).

Application filed. June .4, 1909. Serial No. 502,160.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD J. EDWARDS, of Galena, in the county of J oDaviess and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Derailment- Guards for Railroad-Cars; and I do herebydeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in derailment guards for railroadcars,-one object of the invention being to so construct a derailmentguard that the engagement of the depending portion of the shoe with theside of the rail will be insured when the truck rises at one side andthe wheels tend to leave the rail tread.

A further object is to so construct the shoe of a derailment guard thatthe depending portion of said shoe will pass readily through railroadfrogs.

A further object is to construct the shoe of a derailment guard in suchmanner that it will not be liable to engage objects, such as a stationplatform, in close proximity to the rails.

A further object is to provide a derailment guard structure employing ashoe, with means for guiding said shoe and at the same time bracing thesame,said means being located on the truck so as to be disposed bothinwardly and outwardly from the rails.

\Vith these objects in view the invention consists in certain novelfeatures of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafterdescribed and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view ofa car truck showing the application of my improvements thereto and theirrelation to the railroad rails. Fig. 2 is a bottom plan View, and Fig. 3is a detail view of one of the guard arms and shoe.

1 represents a car truck of any approved construction having suitablejournal boxes for the axles of wheels 2. From the springboard 3 of thetruck, at the center thereof, a bracket 4. depends and is provided atits respective ends with the recess 5 in which the inner ends ofguard-arms 6 are pivotally supported. These guard-arms are provided withelongated slots 7 for the passage of the pivot pins so as to permit aslight longitudinal movement of said guard-arms and the shoes carriedthereby to compensate for the longitudinal play of the wheels and axlesrelatively to the truck frame.

Each guard-arm 6 is provided at its outer end with a lug 8 and ashoulder 9. To the lug 8 of each guard-arm, a shce 10 is pivotallyattached so as to be capable of vertical movement and each shoe isprovided with an inwardly projecting lip 11 which engages the shoulder 9to retain the shoe normally in line with the guard-arm and prevent itfrom descending below such position. That portion of the shoe 10 whichis disposed over the rail is inclined upwardly so that it will be freefrom engagement with objects, such as planked crossings adjacent to thetrack. The underface 12 is preferably slightly curved transversely. The

outer portion of each shoe is guided between parallel guide-arms H whichdepend from the truck outwardly beyond the rails of the road. Similarguide-arms 15 depend from the spring-board and serve to guide the shoesand guard arms adjacent to the junctures of the same,said last mentionedguide-arms being thus disposed inwardly removed from the rails. By thisarrangement of guide arms, each shoe will be guided and also braced neareach of its ends.

Each shoe 10 is provided with a depending flange 16 to engage the sideof the tread portion of the rail. Each flange 16 is made preferablyabout one foot in length, and each of its ends 17 is made wedge shapedand its lower portion beveled, while its intermediate portion is madewith a straight engaging face 18 to make contact with the side of therail-head.

Spring railway frogs are usually about 4t and one-half feet long and asthe derailment guard is located midway between the wheels of the truck,the flange on the shoe of the guard will be in the frog about one footat the instant that the wheels of the truck begin to move out of thefrog. By making these flanges wedge-shaped at their respective ends,they will be permitted to readily enter the frog after the latter hasbeen opened by the wheels of the truck in advance of the derailmentguard.

The shoes 10 will be maintained normally slightly above the treads ofthe rails by means of springs 19 secured to the brackets a and hearingat their free ends against the under faces of the respective uard-arms.

When the car is rounding a curved portion of the road and the trucktends to rise on one side, the flange 16 of the shoe 10 at that side ofthe truck will engage the side of the rail head and its frictionalcontact with the rail-head will cause a movement of the guard-armrelatively to the shoe (the pivotal or hinge connection between saidshoe and guard-arm permitting such movement) and said flange will becaused to properly engage the rail and maintain the shoe in proper andeffective relation to the rail.

Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters-Patent, is,

1. The combination with a truck and derailment guard arms pivotallysupported thereby, of a shoe hinged to the outer end of each of saidarms and adapted to engage a rail.

2. The combination with a truck, and derailment guard arms pivotallysupported thereby, of shoes pivotally connected with the free ends ofsaid arms and adapted to engage railroad rails, and means for limitingthe downward movement of each shoe relatively to the arm to which it ispivotally connected.

3. The combination with a truck and derailment-guard arms pivotallysupported thereby and provided at their outer ends with lugs, of shoespivoted to said lugs and provided with lips to engage the under faces ofthe arms for limiting the downward movement of the shoes relatively tothe arms, and springs engaging said arms and maintaining the shoesnormally elevated slightly above the treads of the rails.

4. The combination with a truck, of guardarms pivotally supportedthereby, shoes carried by said guard-arms and having their lower facesbeveled upwardly from their inner ends outwardly and projecting over thetreads of the rails, and a flange depending from each shoe at the innerend of said beveled portion and adapted to engage the side of theadjacent rail.

5. The combination with a truck, of guardarms pivotally supportedthereby, a shoe carried by each guard-arm and adapted to project overthe rails and a flange depending from each shoe and adapted to engagethe inner side of the adjacent rail, the flange of each shoe beingelongated in form and having wedge-shaped ends.

6. The combination with a truck and guard arms pivotally supportedthereby, of shoes pivotally attached to the outer ends of saidguard-arms, each of said shoes adapted to project over a rail of thetrack and each shoe provided with a depending flange to engage the innerside of the adjacent-rail, and two'pairs of guide-arms for each shoe,said guide-arms depending from the truck and embracing the shoe near theouter end thereof and in proximity to the connection of the inner end ofsaid shoe with the guard-arm respectively.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

RICHARD JAMES EDTVARDS.

\Vitnesses JOHN J. JoNEs, M. E. COLTMAN.

